Marianne vi Britannia
Marianne has only showed the following strengths: in the public eye, she came across as a kind and gentle woman that was admired and idolized by many. When she had her two children Lelouch and Nunnally, she was always seen spending time with them. Taking them outside to watch the clouds or stargaze at night with their half sister Euphemia. Occasionally she would sing to them, not being very good but she did her best. She'd also enjoyed reading whenever she had some quality time to herself. In many photographs around the palace, she can be seen in them reading storybooks to her daughter. Marianne is also a strong willed woman, standing up for her children anytime the nobles of the Imperial wives bothered them. Being a former Night of Round, she had exceptional piloting skills that granted her the title 'Marianne the Flash'. Although her strengths make her appear to be the picture perfect mother, wife and Empress, she was far from it. The face she put on around people was nothing more than a mask to hide her true self. Marianne is just as vindictive as Charles. She betrayed the rulers of Haumean, helping to overthrown Haumea to allow Charles to move in for the taking. She only superficially loves her children, won't hesitate for a second to kill them of they got in the way of any of her plans or like her husband, use them as political tools. The only person that saw through this, even though by the time they had it was too late, was Asuka Kururugi. Appearance Marianne is 5’7” with long wavy raven black hair, violet eyes and a pale skin complexion. Before her death, Marianne’s attire consisted of her white knight of the rounds uniform where she occasionally would wear a pants suit or a skirt. She had a changing between formal dresses that she wore but she was always seen wearing a blue gown. At the time of her death, she’d worn a mustard yellow and brown gown. History Marianne vi Britannia is the 98th Empress of the Holy Britannian Empire and the mother of Lelouch and Nunnally. She was a commoner at birth, being born into a Britannian family that held no particular social status. Before she became married to Charles zi Britannia, Marianne's original name was Marianne vi Karedes, the daughter of Marionette and Nikolai. Marianne only had one sibling which was a sister that was presumed dead, along with their parents when the war and fighting began. She grew up a happy child, living a carefree life, despite the contradictions of the world around her. And while she was born within Britannia, she grew up in Haumea along with her younger sister Maggie. Their parents felt that them growing up in such a pampered environment, not to mention constant violence and despair, they sought out the Haumean Kingdom where King Julius and Queen Elizabeth ruled over. It was there that Marianne received a proper education, soaring through school easily with high marks and made her parents proud, yet worried when she decided to join Haumea's Military. Maggie had done the same but she didn't get through school as easily as her older sister. The Haumean Kingdom was more advanced in weapons and technology, they had the means of being able to fight keep out outside invaders. Unlike the majority of Crystal Tokyo planet kingdoms, Haumea not only had citizens and warriors that fought with powers but with military equipment known as 'Knightmare Frames'. But back then, the technology on them was so poor, the operation time on them was limited. Not only that, Haumea was the kingdom that started the Knight of the Rounds, ranks that stood higher than all the others. Marianne managed to work her way up to becoming one, earning herself the title of Knight of Six. She had exceptional piloting skills that'd outranked the majority of her opponents. She piloted the Ganymede knightmare and earned herself the nickname 'Marianne the Flash'. It was there she'd also met Asuka Kururugi, a personal knight of the queen and was the former Knight of Three, also known as the 'Magician Knight' as her own skills were equal to that of Marianne's. Her rise to such powerful positions were noticed by her family but she enjoyed the attention she'd gotten from Charles zi Britannia who asked her to marry him, thus her bringing into the world Lelouch first then soon after Nunnally. Her parents of course didn't approve of their daughter's decision but it's not as if Marianne listened to their warnings of Charles being nothing more than an evil man that craved power and didn't give a damn about no one but himself. His ideals were outrageous, not to mention he thrived on taking over other planet kingdoms he felt couldn't match up to what little technology his kingdom had. Plot Out of spite, Marianne moved out of her parents home in Haumea and into the Imperial Pendragon palace in the Britannia Kingdom with the Emperor while still maintaining her position as the Knight of Six of Haumea. She kept up an appearance as a caring soldier of the Rounds and to the Haumeans but in reality, she was plotting against them all. The only reason Charles wanted Marianne to marry him is because of the simple fact that he believed that she could help him be able to overthrown the kingdom from within without anyone knowing about it. All the while, putting on the face of a mother that loved and adored her two children. She even pretended to be friends with Asuka, gain her trust long enough to gain any information she could relay back to Charles. Whenever she did have time to escape from her work related duties to be home with her children, Marianne often showed to have a rebellious spirit as well as a deep instinct towards her children. Examples of this is when she rode a horse into the palace's great hall, picked a fight with several of the Emperor's other wives all at once and another is when she used the Ganymede to intimidate a fellow noble who had been harassing Lelouch and Nunnally. She did all of this, keeping her friendly disposition. Another thing is, she wasn't born with any special powers or abilities of her own. Basically she was just a normal and regular human being. It wasn't until she'd come into contact with M.M., that she'd gained the power of Geass. This power allowed Marianne to transfer her spirit (and her geass) into another person. A side effect is that, when her consciousness surfaces, she can speak with M.M. telepathically. She gained this power in hops of helping the Emperor in his goal of slaying God, thus the reason for the Sword of Akasha being created which would trigger the Ragnarok Connection. Originally Charles's brother V.V. and M.M. both had agreed to giving up their immortal codes for the plan to work but when M.M., found out the true intentions of the plans, she left. V.V., became the head over the Geass Director but was killed off thanks to another immortal girl known as N.N., who took his place. By then, Britannia was already starting to slowly take control over Haumea. They'd started with Julius and Elizabeth first, Charles ordering them to be killed off so make sure that his installment as the new ruler was permanent, and their daughter, Princess Mikuru became his prisoner and geass test subject, stripping the child of her status as princess, taking away her powers and forcing her to give Marianne a geass. By the time Asuka had saw Marianne's true personality, not to mention discover the woman's intentions for getting close to her, the king and the queen, she was infuriated. But it was too late to tell anyone of it. The Empress had shown her true colors which was nothing but a selfish, heartless member of the Knight of Rounds who eventually in the end helped to overthrow the king and queen of Haumea, allowing Charles to take complete control over the kingdom, expanding it and making it part of Britannia. And as for her children, she only superficially loved them and will not hesitate to kill them if they got in her way. Marianne's own family had died during the middles of the start up of the war. The whereabouts of her sister unknown. Of course, it doesn't end there. The war was between Haumea and Britanna was only just beginning. It didn't fully turn full blast until after the assassination of Marianne. It was a cover-up though, causing Nunnally to be a false witness, going blind thanks to the trauma of it all. It was led to believe that she was killed by terrorists, causing many to assume that it was done because of her commoner status. The real truth is that she'd ordered Princess Riku to shut down the security on the day of her attack, which implies that she knew she was going to be killed beforehand. But security was lowered by her own request as she was prompted by her other niece Princess Kaoru to speak with her, the one who actually committed the crime in killing Marianne out of jealousy. This was the only time she'd actually ever used the power, having been mortally injured by Kaoru. But as long as her body was kept intact, there was a possibility that she could have returned to it. But a body can only be kept from decaying for so long, thus why the spirit of Marianne within Evangeline Elstreim hopes to reconnect with her present day counterpart that lives on Earth in Tokyo, Japan. With her spirit and geass power transferred into Evangeline, a girl who'd lived within the palace for quite some time and was trained under Marianne briefly to be schooled in proper etiquette, she would have to use her body attempt such a thing. She believes if her spirit could be transferred from the girl's body into her counterpart's, she could resume her physical young form but being five years older. But for that to work, she'd have to surface her subconscious completely, taking control over Evangeline's body to go to Earth. Though that has been proven to be difficult with the girl trying so hard to keep her memories intact as she remembers nothing of the night of Marianne's death. Not to mention, since Marianne was the former Knight of Six, she could be the reason that the now fourteen year old Evangeline obtained that title. It is hinted that her supporters were the Brevard Family, which caused their social statuses to be ruined after her death and why they consented to protect Lelouch and Nunnally for the length of time they lived. Relationships Because of her death, little is known about Marianne, besides the fact she was the mother of Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia, Imperial Consort of the 98th Emperor of Britannia, and a former member of Knights of the Round. She was an aesthetically beautiful woman, and as early Code Geass side materials portray her, sweet and kind hearted, with a rebellious spirit and a deep protective instinct towards her children. Her true nature is a selfish, heartless former member of Knights of the Round who helped to overthrow the previous Emperor of Britannia and install Charles as the 98th Emperor. She only superficially loves her children and will not hesitate to kill them if they get in her way. This proves that a part of her has become slightly insane as she has considered using her children as experiments with her own Geass power, to a point that she also considered trying to wed the two of them to create a child that would be the perfect container of the Code, however, she was killed before she had the chance to try. She never had any meaningful relationships with others, at least not meaningful to her, hinting that her appearance around everyone who loved and adored her, was nothing more than a guise behind her true personality. Powers & Abilities Geass Power A mysterious ability which certain people can bestow upon others and is represented by a bird-shaped symbol which glows red when active. The power of Geass increases with use, usually starting in one eye. It can eventually spread to both eyes and become uncontrollable with repeated use. Marianne's geass allowed her to transfer her spirit (and Geass) into the body of another person. Her geass sigil manifested within her right eye. *Commands - No verbal commands are given aloud for Marianne's geass power to work. In fact, the only time she ever really used it is when she was on the very of dying, which she then transferred her soul into the body of young Evangeline Elstreim. *Memory - Since Marianne only used her geass once and only one one person, this power only affects the memory of Evangeline. The reason it does is because she is continuing on with her life from day to day unaware of the fact that she has the dormant spirit of Empress Marianne within her. Coupled with this, is the constant black outs she has. It'd gotten to the point that Evangeline didn't trust her own memories and decided to carry around a camera phone diary to record everything she did each day. This would also happen to anyone else if they'd been affected by Marianne's geass as well. *Time Limit - Apparently, Marianne's geass has no time limit as her spirit continues even to this day in the body of a teenage girl. However, she does occasionally surface long enough to be able to communicate with M.M., from time to time. Be it telepathically or through taking over Evangeline's mind and body completely, communicating through her. *Resistance - Marianne only used her geass on Evangeline when she was but a mere ten years old. So, at the time, the child did not have a chance to attempt to resist the power. However, if this had been used on someone else, they probably would’ve but eventually succumbed. *Healing & Immortality - Marianne was killed before she could complete her side of the contract with M.M., thus she never obtained her own immortal code. Marianne Gallery marianne_vi_britannia.jpg marianne_knightmare.png|Marianne and her Knightmare Frame Ganymede Knightmare Frame Special Armament Because this knightmare was built many years ago during the very first development of knightmare frames, the only armament the Ganymede possesses is a land-spinner propulsion system and a large external battery that limits the operational time the pilot can use this machine. Strengths Despite the many failings of this frame, he Ganymede forms the basis of practically every Knightmare Frame constructed thereafter. This is due to the effectiveness of the basic design, along with its skilled test pilot, Marianne vi Britannia. Her incredible piloting skills is what made this knightmare frame famous. Weaknesses Unlike the traditional knightmare frames of today, this old third generation knightmare lacked a Yggdrasil drive, powered by a large external battery, limiting its range and operation time. Description Developed during the third generation of Knightmare Frames, the Ganymede is the brainchild of the rising Brevard Foundation. At least one Ganymede is kept with the Brevard Family, occasionally operating in Area 11 during some of the schools festivals once every two years. But during that time, the Ganymede would be stored away, only to be brought out for exhibition display purposes only. So that many can admire the knightmare that was piloted by the famous Marianne vi Britannia, also know as 'Marianne the Flash'. Trivia *It is unknown if whether or not there is a part of Marianne that actually does care about her children and would rather not use them for her own selfish gain. *She is the only one that has actually met the mother of Anya and Suzaku Kururugi, Asuka Kururugi who was a former member of the Knight of Rounds, holding the title of Knight of Three. *She betrayed the rulers of Haumea and Asuka in order to instill Charles as Emperor of the Kingdom. Also See *Bloodlines *Knight of Rounds *Britannia Imperial Family *Lelouch vi Britannia *Nunnally vi Britannia *Charles zi Britannia